The Adventurous Adventures of Uzumaki Rika
by My Dark Fire
Summary: The next generation of Konoha's ninja are moving through the ranks, and among them is Uzumaki Rika, who may turn out to be the bravest of them all. ξήζσγ
1. The Birth of Uzumaki Rika

Uzimaki Naruto paced impatiently in the waiting room. Every three seconds he looked over at the delivery room before continuing his pacing. Hatake Kakashi and Sabuko no Gaara followed his movement with their heads like cats. Hyuuga Neji was reading a book about child pregnancy (courtesy of Tenten). And Sai was painting a pregnant Sakura's hair a light shade of pink.

Eventually Naruto stopped pacing and yelled, "What the hell is taking so long?!"

Neji glanced up from his book and said patiently "Naruto, child-birth is one of the most excruciating procedures in the world. It's going to take a long time, so you might as well relax."

Naruto plopped into the empty seat next to his friend. "But what if something goes wrong? What if the baby gets hurt or something? What if..."

The Hokage began to go into freak out mode, and Gaara didn't want him to faint before he could see his child, so he said, "Listen, Naruto, Sakura's a strong woman. She'll pull through and so will your baby."

"Well, considering it is Naruto's baby, its big fat head might get stuck." Sai said without looking up from his painting. Four sets of eyes glared heatedly at him and he flinched.

"You know, you could've kept that to yourself." Naruto snapped.

"If I could've, I would've." Sai replied before returning to his painting. Neji went back to his pregnancy book, Kakashi dug out his Icha Icha book from his pouch, Gaara leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes, and Naruto continued his pacing, muttering quietly to himself.

* * *

Half an hour later when Shizune and Tsunade came out from the delivery room, Naruto had made marks in the carpet, Sai was signing his beautiful painting, Gaara was deep in sleep, Neji had the book placed over his eyes, and Kakashi was at one of the "Good Parts" of his Icha Icha.

The moment Tsuande and her assistant entered the room, Naruto jumped on them, asking questions about his wife and the baby. The former Hokage put up a hand, halting his barrage of questions. "Sakura's fine, Naruto." She said and Naruto sighed in relief. "And so is your child. Sakura is awake - surprisingly - and she's asking to see you."

The blond-haired man pushed past them and ran into the room, the door frame shuddering in his wake.

Uzimaki Sakura was lying in the bed, her face red and blotchy with tears and her forehead beaded with sweat. She smiled weakly when her husband came crashing into the room. Naruto ran to her side and kissed her face, telling her how beautiful and brilliant she was. There was a cry of protest and Naruto glanced down at Sakura's arms.

Sapphire blue and fierce emerald green met for the first time.

Time seemed to slow down for Naruto. His daughter was the most beautiful thing he had ever laid eyes on. She had the beginnings of soft pink hair on the top of her head and little whiskers on each chubby cheek. She stared up at him for a few moments before letting out a tiny giggle and squirming her arms. Sakura held her out to him and Naruto took her silently, placing her in the crook of his arm and sitting down in a chair in the corner of the room.

Tsuande walked into the room again with a clipboard underneath her arm. She went on to tell Naruto that he could go home with the baby and come back tomorrow to pick up Sakura, but he refused and said he wanted to stay with his wife. Tsuande nodded in understanding and left again to get her student some food.

Sakura smiled as she watched Naruto rock their baby in his arms. She had often wondered what it would feel like when she would be able to hold her child but it wasn't even close to what she imagined. She was filled with love from head to toe and the feeling grew even more when she saw Naruto bonding with his baby girl.

"Naruto? What are we going to call her?" Sakura asked, breaking the spell Naruto had been under.

"...Rika. I like Rika."


	2. Childhood Memories

**Dark Fire: **Alright, guys, I just wanted to tell you that I need help creating fan children and I want to see what you guys come up with.**  
Naruto: **This is how you will submit your suggestions via PM or review: **  
**

******Name: (Any, but the names must be Japanese)**  
**Sex: (Male/female)**  
**Eye color: (Any)**  
**Hair color: (Any)**  
**Description: (Any distinguishing characteristics, clothes, accessories, etc. Only teenager description please!)**  
**Personality: (What's your character like?)  
**Parents: (Character/OC is allowed)  
**Relationship with Rika: (Because she IS the main character)**  
**Love interest: (Optional)**  
**Signature: (This allows me to do with your character what I please, and is needed for me to consider using your fan child)**

******Dark Fire: **The parents that are taken are Sasuke (You'll see him later on), Gai, Neji, and Tenten. Any others are free to use :)  
**Naruto:** Oh, and no gay marriage children. Sorry yaoi fangirls! (Dark Fire's gonna get flames for this!)

* * *

A week after bringing Rika to their home, Naruto and Sakura brought her outside for the first time. It was the beginning of Spring then and everything was lush and green. Rika loved it. She took in her surroundings with large green eyes and giggled loudly whenever a leaf fell or a butterfly fluttered past. Naruto and Sakura smiled every time she laughed. They had heard from their parents a baby's laugh was one of the most beautiful sounds in the world. They didn't believe it until now.

Naruto and Sakura settled into a routine. Sakura would get up and nurse Rika before going off to work at the hospital. Naruto would wake up an hour later. Half asleep, he would pluck her out of her crib, change her diaper, and make a bottle of formula. He would sit on the porch with her tiny, warm body nestled against his stomach as she she sucked on the bottle. Sometimes he would let his face rest against the top of her head and doze off as she ate lustily. When she was fed and he had gotten a good burp out of her, he would go back inside, get them dressed, and then go upstairs to his office. He would place her in the crib by his desk and then start on his paperwork. Sakura would be home around noon and take over so Naruto could go to the Hokage's Office so he could actually get some work done.

The reason why Naruto was so distracted when he worked from home was because Rika had visitors and he wanted to watch as they interacted with his child.

Kakashi came over meaning to help Naruto with his work, but Rika would demand attention from her beloved uncle and he would lay down on the carpet and allow Rika to scale his body like a mountain while he read his Icha Icha book, making sure to keep it out of her reach because she loved all things orange just like her father.

When Gaara came to Konoha for Kage matters, he stayed with the Uzimakis and Naruto trusted him enough to leave him alone with his first-born. Gaara and Rika were on pretty good terms with each other except for that one time when Naruto left to get her Totoro and came back to find sand grasping a giggling Rika's ankle and holding her a few feet off the ground. After Naruto pried her away from the sand hand, he asked Gaara what the hell he thought he was doing, the Kazekage replied, "Rika puked on me." He gestured to the green liquid on his dark red coat. (Insert Naruto facepalm here)

Gai and Akira visited with their son, Might Kai. Akira would give advice to Sakura while Gai and Naruto made sure Kai and Rika were kept away from each other. Kai was two years older than Rika, not at all older in the scheme of things, but Kai hated the pinkette since their first playdate. The parents had left the living room to talk in the kitchen. After a few minutes they heard Kai scream, "Ady! Emi!" They ran back to the babies and found Rika sitting on Kai's back, yanking on his black hair, which was pulled back at the base of his neck. His silver eyes were glistening with tears as Rika pulled harder, giggling her little butt off. Akira and Sakura separated their children and glared at their husbands as they laughed at poor little Kai.

And, surprisingly, the person who visited the most was Hyuuga Neji. Neji spent most of his free time at the Uzimaki home, claiming to do research so he knew what to expect when his child was born, but Naruto could tell he really loved Rika too. He would sit down while Rika played quietly and sometimes join in one of her childish games. One day, when Naruto and Neji were left alone with Rika when Sakura and Tenten went shopping for baby supplies, Neji asked Naruto if, when the time comes, Rika would be his student. Naruto was surprised to say the least, but promised that she would be his. The faintest hints of a smile shadowed his face and he turned to Rika to help her untangle herself from her yellow blankie.

* * *

**Dark Fire: **Send in those fan children, bros!  
**Minato: **My granddaughter's so cuuuute!  
**Dark Fire: **...You're kinda young to be a grandpa, Minato.


	3. The Arrival of Uchiha Sachiko

Sakura was in Rika's room, siting in a rocking chair, cradling her daughter and singing her a lullaby her mother had sung when she heard urgent knocking on the front door. "I'm coming!" She placed Rika in her crib and hurried downstairs, where the knocking had increased, but when she swung open the door, there was no one there. The pink-haired woman stepped outside and her foot brushed against something. She looked down and saw a little baby in a basket, a white blanket covering its tiny body.

After making sure there weren't any traps, she knelt down and studied the child's face. She found out that it was a girl and she had wisps of dark blue hair on her tiny head and nearly black eyes. She was no older than a few weeks old, but her face was twisted with strong emotion...

_Rage? Hatred? I've never seen such a look on anyone before, let alone a baby. _

But then her face softened and she cried softly, touching her with small, undeveloped hands. _So small, so helpless, she needs a mother. _

Glancing around, Sakura put the girl back in the basket and brought it back inside with her. She carried it back up to Rika's room, where her child was snuggling with her Totoro, snoring softly. The child cried softly as Sakura picked her up again, bringing her to her breast. While she felt uncomfortable with nursing this strange child, she didn't want her to starve, so she sucked it up and allowed her to suckle.

Sakura looked over at the basket and saw that a note was lying on the bottom. She reached over and plucked it out, bringing it to her face and began to read it.

_Sakura, Naruto, I'm sorry about this, but you two are the only ones I can turn to. This is my daughter, Uchiha Sachiko. I cannot care for her and I must ask you to take her in for me. I know that you both must still be mad at me for leaving Konoha but don't take it out on Sachiko. Please, don't tell her that she is the daughter of Uchiha Sasuke. Her heritage from me could've only been misery. I don't want her to feel unwanted and unloved. I will love her with all my heart but I cannot be her father. So I beg of you, take my place as her parents and make her a ninja Konoha can be proud of._

_And who knows? Perhaps our daughters will be best friends._

_Uchiha Sasuke. _

* * *

Naruto and Sakura had a long conversation that night. They agreed that they had to acknowledge Sasuke's wish to be Sachiko's parents, but they knew that Sachiko would be all alone, being the only Uchiha in Konoha. Thus, Naruto changed her name to Uzumaki Sachiko in hopes that she would believe they were her birth parents, despite looking nothing like them.

The next day, they both placed Rika and Sachiko in the living room and left to watch from the kitchen. Rika stared at the blue-haired girl for a brief moment before crawling over to her. Sachiko didn't move as Rika leaned against her, letting out a bubbly giggle. Both Naruto and Sakura smiled. Maybe Sasuke was right, perhaps their daughters would be best friends.

* * *

**Dark Fire: **Short chapter is short. Anyways, I'd like to thank Celestia's Paladin for sending in the first fan child! My story has broken ten favorites and now I'd like to ask you guys to give me a few ideas. Characters, suggestions, whatever, just review or PM me~!  
**Sasuke: **In other words, Dark Fire's out of ideas.  
**Dark Fire: **Shuddup. That ain't true, you insensitive prick.  
**Sasuke: ***snorts* Whatever.  
**Dark Fire: **No wonder why you dumped Sachiko on Naruto, she would've grown up to be emo just like you!  
**Sasuke: ***glares at Dark Fire* Now you're gonna get it, bi-  
**Naruto: **Favorite, follow, review!


	4. And So It Begins

Hey guys, it's me: Uzumaki Rika! But I'm not the baby you've come to love anymore, I'm twelve years old now, all grown up - well, sort of.

I'm the second born of the four Uzumaki children. The oldest is my big sis, Sachiko. She's the family oddball, since she looks nothing like Mom or Dad. She had spiky elbow-length raven hair highlighted blue and narrow black eyes with bangs hanging over her eyes. She's terribly rough around the edges and very abusive verbally, but she's really nice underneath all that. She wears a long-sleeved blue shirt with the Uzumaki crest on the back and front with navy blue trousers. We get along fine, but her attitude can be really irritating and she's my number one rival, despite being my sister.

I have two younger siblings, too: Mika and Minato. Mika was only a couple of months younger than me, but she's a lot more mature than I could ever be. She had soft strawberry-blond hair that fell past her shoulders and crystal blue eyes similar to Dad's, along with the three whiskers on each cheek we both shared. Mika's well known to be arrogant, talkative, stubborn, and impulsive, but she's the sweetest person alive. She's my best friend and I wouldn't trade her for anything. Her attire was a yellow kimono with a short-sleeved fishnet shirt underneath, dark green shorts, and blue sandals. She had a round face, giving her child-like innocence, but the other kids said it made her look like a three-year-old. I took care of them good.

Minato was the youngest of us and the only boy in the house besides Dad, so it was kind of rough having three older sisters, but he was a little soldier. He was a combination of Mom and Dad: He had Dad's spiky blond hair and Mom's dark green eyes, Dad's mischievous grin, Mom's personality, and Dad's obsession for ramen. He usually wore a white jacket with a hood and white sweat pants with blue boots. I find him kind of annoying and childish at times, but then again, he's only eight.

As for me, well... I have bright pink hair, pale green eyes, and fair skin. I wear an orange qipao dress with the Uzumaki symbols and long sleeves, tight blue shorts, and a pouch on my left hip for carrying kunai knives and medical supplies. I want to be a medic nin like my mom someday, so I familiarized myself with basic first aid and practiced using healing chakara until I was able to heal large bruises and cuts to the flesh, using my brother as practice. If I had to describe myself, I guess I'd say that I'm a tomboyish girl who worships ramen. Only me and my family would consider ramen a deity.

Today's a pretty big day, because Sachiko, Mika, and I are _finally_ graduating from the Ninja Academy. We've been preparing ourselves for Kami knows how long and now our efforts were about to pay off. Mom fretted over stupid things like our hair and our outfits all morning, trying her best to make us look perfect while dealing with Minato, who was whining why he couldn't graduate with us. Dad eventually took Minato away for a bowl of ramen so she could straighten Mika's hair in peace.

Mika was not happy with what Mom was doing to her and kept sending me pained looks. I felt bad for her, so I told Mom that we needed to get there early so we would give off a good impression to our teachers. She immediately released Mika and ushered us out the door.

Now here we are, sitting in our classroom with all the other students that passed. I was sitting alone with my sisters until I heard a familiar voice say, "Hey, Rika, I was wondering where you were."

I immediately felt the knot in my stomach loosen and a smile curved my lips. Walking over was Aburame Hotaru, my close and personal friend. Like most in the Aburame clan, she wore a high-collar coat, but no glasses, revealing her black eyes. Her brown hair was slightly too short to be pulled back in a bun and strands framed her face. Hotaru had a serious obsession with sharp things and likes to play with knives. If there's one thing I know, it's that I wouldn't want to meet Hotaru on the battlefield. She calm, cool, collective, and kind of mysterious.

"Hello, Hotaru." I greeted as she took the seat next to me and I saw Mika flinch out of the corner of my eye. They didn't get along very well, because Mika thought Hotaru was creepy and Hotaru thought Mika was a little nuisance. I prayed to ramen that they wouldn't end up on the same team.

"Are you nervous?" She asked, curling fingers around my wrist. I nodded and she took my hands in hers. "Don't worry. The teams are arranged based on our strengths and weaknesses, so you'll have teammates who can keep up with you."

"Thanks, Hotaru-chan." I smiled. "Do you think we'll be paired together?"

She returned my smile. "It's probable. I'm just hoping I don't end up with Takeo-"

Suddenly, the doors swung open and everyone jumped, thinking it was Shikamaru-sensei, but it was just Inuzuka Takeo, who was walking in like he owned the whole place with his dog, Masaru, at his heels. "Watch out, people! SEXY is finally back!" He announced, receiving a lot of mock laughter and someone shouted, "Shut up, you dog!"

Inuzuka Takeo is, without a doubt, the most self-obsessed person I have ever met. He was loud, obnoxious, and a jokester, just like his dad, Inuzuka Kiba. He wore a dark blue jacket with matching pants and fishnet shirt. He had the Inuzuka clan symbols tattooed on his cheeks making him look even more like an animal. He had a samurai sword he had inherited from his grandfather -who was a samurai - that he carried around all the damn time. Like most of his clan, he had sharp black eyes with slit-like pupils, light brown hair mixed with red, canine teeth, and nails that can turn into claws.

"Hello, ladies." He said as he approached, though he didn't seem to be talking to me. I glanced behind me and saw his gaze was directed toward Mika, who was looking at him quizzically as he plopped unceremoniously down into the seat beside her. Masaru jumped onto his lap and placed his front paws on the desk as Takeo patted his back. Mika reached over and stroked the pup's spine, earning a lick on the fingers from the small white dog. Takeo looked tickled pink and I felt my cheeks flame in anger. What was he doing so close to my sister?!

Hotaru and Sachiko grabbed me by the arms when I tried to get up and pulled me back into my seat. "Relax, little sister." Sachiko snarled in my ear. "Takeo's the son of the head of the Inuzuka clan, remember? If we touch him, the rivalry between our clans will become worse.

I let out a soft snort and at that moment, Shika-sensei came into the classroom, clutching a clipboard. Immediately everyone took their seats and looked at the jonin teacher expectantly. He met each of our gazes as he lazily made his way to the front of the room.

_At this rate I'll be an old woman before I'm even placed on a team,_ I thought bitterly as I watched him through half-lidded eyes.

When he finally reached the front of the room, he said, "Students, today you leave the Ninja Academy to begin walking your shinobi path. I wish you all a prosperous career. Now, let's get this over with. Team Three: Uzumaki Rika, Uzumaki Sachiko, and Hyuuga Kaito."

I mentally did a fist-pump. I had gotten my sister and the best of the class on my team. What more could I ask for?

"Team Ten: Inuzuka Takeo, Might Kai, and Uzumaki Mika."

W-What?! I glanced at Mika, but she didn't look fazed at all. If anything, she looked_ pleased_ with her new team. Takeo leaned over and whispered something in her ear and she laughed softly. I spotted Might Kai near the back of the room, watching them with little interest. When I caught his gaze, he held it until I had to look away. Kai was never one of my favorite people and now my little sister was placed on a team with him. _Would he do mean things to her just because he doesn't like me?_

* * *

**Dark Fire: **Yepyep! Kinda a weird place to leave off a chapter, but meh, I got lazy. :/  
**Sasuke: **Somehow I knew you were gonna say that.  
**Dark Fire: **Shut up, duck-butt. The OC's that have been selected are Aburame Hotaru and Inuzuka Takeo! Thanks guys! lol, FREE VIRTUAL HUGS FOR ALL!  
**Sakura: ***pops up in nightgown* DARK FIRE! WILL YOU SHUT UP?! I'M TRYING TO SLEEP!  
**Dark Fire: **Oooooooh, someone's PMSing.  
**Sakura: ***thorws hairbrush at Dark Fire*  
**Dark Fire: ***dodges* HA! I'M A NINJA, BITCH!  
**Sasuke: ***smacks her with a banana*  
**Dark Fire: **Ow!  
**Kiba: **Favorite, follow, review!


	5. First Day of Training

**Dark Fire: **READ ME, DO IT NOW! Due to a character I got sent in, Hyuuga Kaito is now being replaced as Rika's teammate by Hatake Kairu. I just had to ^^; Now, onto the story :D

* * *

The next morning I woke up bright and early.

I glanced over at my nightstand and saw my forehead protector next to the photo of my sisters. It was a picture of my first day at the Academy. Sachiko, Mika, and I were all standing in front of the tree with the swing in the front of the Academy. Sachiko and I were standing on either side of Mika, hovering over her like we were protecting her. Mika and I were both grinning widely while Sachiko's face was pretty much stoic, but she was as excited as us to be in the Academy.

I picked my forehead protector and tied it around my head. I removed my bed sheets and threw my legs over the side of the bed, dancing to the bathroom that was connected to my bedroom. I grabbed the nearest brush and began dragging it through my hair, wincing slightly as the brush collected clumps of hair. I've always rolled in my sleep and I was used to my hair being messy when I woke up, but since I began growing out my hair its gotten worse.

Once my hair was nice and fluffy, I dabbed a bit of blush to my cheeks and rubbed lotion on my knuckles. I quickly brushed my teeth and went back to my room to get dressed. That is, if there wasn't a boy in my window.

I let out a strangled scream and the boy's head snapped up. I realized it was just my new teammate: Hatake Kairu. Like his father, he had short spiked white hair that defied gravity, onyx eyes, and a nice body. He wore a black short-sleeved shirt with kunai knife and shuriken holders around his thighs and his left arm taped up to his fingers. He had his forehead protector tied sideways on his head. Kairu was a truly kind and caring person, and I was glad I had gotten him as a teammate, but I was a little pissed off when he belly-flopped onto my bedroom floor.

"Hey, Rika-chan." He greeted after picking himself off the floor. "Sorry, but Neji-sensei sent me to get you. We started training over a half-an-hour ago."

"A half-hour ago?!" I gasped. "Dammit, why didn't anyone wake me up?!" I went to the door, but Kairu called me back, "Don't you think you ought to change first, Rika-chan?"

I looked down at my orange squirrel pajamas that were torn in some places and sagged at the butt. "Yeah, you're right. But you're going back the way you came." I grabbed the cuff of his shirt and began dragging him towards the open window.

"What? Why do I have to go out the window?" Kairu grumped as I tried to squeeze him through the small window.

"Because don't you think it'd be a deadly and awkward situation if my parents saw you sneaking downstairs from my room?" I asked with an arched eyebrow. Kairu saw the wisdom of my words and tried to climb out the window so fast, he tripped and banged his leg on the edge of the windowsill. He grunted in pain and I slammed the window shut and pulled the curtains together so he couldn't see me while I got dressed.

I removed my pajamas and quickly pulled my orange qipao dress over my head. I ran downstairs and saw that Dad was helping Minato with his white jacket. He looked up as I entered the kitchen and smiled uneasily. "Hey kiddo. You, um, overslept a little, huh?"

"Don't remind me," I hissed as I grabbed a red apple and hurried to the door. I heard Dad call "Make me proud!" as I slammed the door shut behind me. I took a large bite of my apple before tossing it behind a bush and took off in a sprint.

No less than five minutes later, I was at the training grounds where the teams were beginning to head off. I spotted my sister and Kairu standing next Neji-sensei.

"Hey, guys!" I called, waving my arms like a crazy person. Sachiko shook her head and Kairu waved back.

"How nice of you to join us, Rika." Neji said with a tiny smirk as I approached. "We were starting to think that you weren't coming."

"Ha ha, Uncle Neji." I said with fake laughter. "You of all people know I wouldn't miss this for anything."

Neji nodded and began to lead us away from the other teams. "'Uncle Neji'?" Kairu asked me, his eyes shining with amusement.

"What? He's practically family."

* * *

"Now, before we begin our first training session, I believe we should tell each other our goals for our ninja career." Neji said once we were in a secluded area in the training grounds. I could see the other teams through the trees and wondered why we were separate from the others. _Maybe Neji-sensei just doesn't want to be around the others,_ I thought. _He's kind of anti-social anyway._

"We'll start with you, Rika. What is your goal?" Neji asked me, leaning against a tree casually with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Well, I want to be a medic nin like my mum," I started, "and become a jonin, but at some point I want to settle down and start a family."

Neji nodded, turned to Sachiko, and said, "Your turn."

My sister thought for a moment before saying, "I'm going to succeed my father as Hokage one day and rule Konoha as well as he did."

_Dammit, why didn't I come up with that?_ I thought, mad at myself that I had come up with such a lame answer.

"You're very ambitious, Sachiko." Neji said, but he didn't look very pleased. "Now, for the gentleman."

A sheepish smile spread on Kairu's face and he said, "I don't feel like sharing right now, is that okay, Neji-sensei?"

Neji considered it for a moment before shrugging. "It's fine, I suppose. Now, I know each of you were the best of your class, so now I want you to try to focus your chakara to a certain point in your body."

_Chakara, riiight. Dammit, I skipped that class to catch a bowl of ramen with Minato._ I mentally smacked myself. I looked over at Sachiko and saw that her left hand was glowing a soft blue. I formed the same handsign she was and tried to focus my chakara to my left hand.

Nothing.

"What the..." I shook my fingers and tried again. Zero. Zip. Nada. I was beginning to get frustrated when the tip of my index finger flickered bright orange. _Yes! I did it!_

"Umm...Rika..." Neji's voice broke into my thoughts and I saw that Sachiko and Kairu were staring at the tiny flame of chakara on my finger. "You skipped the chakara class, didn't you?"

"...Yes."


	6. That Night at the Lake

**Dark Fire: ***huddled in her emo corner*  
**Kiba: **C'mon, Dark Fire. It ain't that bad.  
**Sasuke: **What's going on?  
**Kiba: **The Adventerous Adventures of Uzumaki Rika lost a follower.  
**Sasuke: **Ah, well, Dark Fire has to do the next chapter now.  
**Dark Fire: **Sasuke, leave me alone to read James Patterson's Fang, please. ;_;  
**Sasuke: **Oh no, we got three more OCs that have been accepted (Haruki Takehiko, Hiromi Kayo, and Nagaki) and your followers are waiting for their characters to be in this chapter. So, get up off your big butt and entertain them!  
**Dark Fire: **Fine, fine, onto the story, I guess.

* * *

After a long day of training, I just wanted to go to my room and sleep for a week, but Mom said that Gaara's family was coming for a political dinner, so I had to get ready and clean my room because it was a total pigsty. Typical mom behavior.

I really didn't feel like being social, but there was one upside that Gaara and his family was coming over tonight, I could see Takehiko again.

Haruki Takehiko has been my friend since we were kids when my parents had a huge dinner and invited Gaara and his family over. I wasn't one for the noise and neither was Takehiko, so we sneaked away to the playground and we became fast friends. He wears mainly dark clothes, though there is always some yellow in his attire. He usually wears a black sweater with the kanji for peace on the back, black ANBU pants with a yellow line running down each leg, and classic shinobi sandals.

He has burn scars on his right knee and left foot from when someone dared him firewalk, and a thin scar through his right eyebrow because he accidentally cut himself with a kunai knife when he was a kid. When he's not training or on a mission, he's a pretty laid-back guy, but not lazy like his Dad.

He's the first-born son to Nara Shikamaru and Haruki Temari, the ambassadorial couple of Konoha and Suna, giving him citizenship in both villages. He has a little sister named Sora, who I find adorable, but like all big brothers, he thinks she's annoying and lazy, but still loves her. Takehiko says I need to relax and try to act more like a lady, and I think he needs to be more fun, and he responded with "troublesome".

On the surface, we shared a strong sibling-like relationship, but the truth is I actually have a crush on him. Shocker, I know. Many of you must be going: "Awww! Our little Rika has a crush~! So cute!" but it really hurts because I barely ever see him and when I do, he just acts weird. So I don't know if its one-sided or what.

Anyways, I went up to my room and picked up the dirty clothes that were discarded on the floor and shoved them underneath my bed. Hopefully mom wouldn't do a bed check again. I quickly made the bed and threw out old ramen bowls that littered my bedroom.

I looked around my room and decided it was clean enough and walked over to Mika's room across the hall. I didn't bother knocking as I pushed the door open and stumbled in. Mika was sitting on her bed, wrapping her arm in white tape. Her head snapped up as I entered the room and snorted, "Can't you knock, Rika?"

"Why are you wrapping your arm?" I asked in alarm. "Did you hurt yourself? Do you want me to get mom?"

"What? No. Lee-sensei keeps his arms wrapped so I might as well, too." Mika chirped and continued wrapping. "You need something?"

I nodded and sat down beside her, the bed shifting under the added weight. "Gaara's family is coming over for another political dinner. I was thinking you and me could sneak out and go to the lake to hang out."

The lake is basically where everyone goes late at night to get away from their parents and party. Kairu had told me earlier that Takeo was throwing another party tonight and that we were invited. I'm not much of a party girl, and neither was Mika or Takehiko, but I think we deserved to have a little rebellion since Dad was always telling me to party and have fun.

Mika's crystalline eyes lit up and she said, "Sure! It sounds like fun!"

I smiled and ruffled her strawberry-blond hair. "Good girl. C'mon, lets go get Takehiko."

"Alright." She followed me out of her room and down the stairs to the living room, where Sachiko was reading a book while Minato watched TV. We weren't telling Sachiko about the party because she would tell Mom and Dad and then we'd be glance up from her book and looked at us with little interest before returning to the book. Minato didn't even look up as we passed by, too engrossed in his TV show to care about what we were doing.

We walked to the living room and found Mom and Dad welcoming Sabaku no Gaara and his siblings into the house. Takehiko followed his parents inside and walked over to us with his cousin, Sabaku no Haruka, who was blushing and tapping his fingers together.

Haruka was Gaara and Hinata's son and, like Takehiko, was a ninja of the Leaf and Sand. He had dark auburn hair and the pale lavender eyes of a Hyuuga. He wore a dark brown jacket with a long-sleeved fishnet shirt with black and red arm warmers and navy blue pants with knife holders wrapped around his thighs. Haruka had a massive crush on Mika like his mother had on Naruto, and his face would become beet red whenever she was around him and right now it looked like he was going to use Byakugan to find an escape route.

"Hey, Haruka!" Mika greeted, playfully punched his arm. "How are ya?"

"V-V-Very well, M-Mika-chan." He stuttered and rubbed his arm when she turned to talk with Temari.

Takehiko rolled his eyes and murmured in my ear, "Troublesome. Why won't he just tell her how he feels and get it over with?"

I jammed him in the side with my elbow and received a loud grunt. "Because she'd kill him, that's why. You know she doesn't like him like that." I grabbed Mika and all four of us formed a small circle away from the adults. "Alright, Takeo's throwing a party tonight at the lake, so after dinner we'll all sneak out and spend an hour or two there and then come right back here."

Mika and Takehiko nodded excitingly while Haruka looked a little nervous, since he had never sneaked out before, but he nodded in agreement.

* * *

An hour later, we were jumping through trees on our way to the lake. Even from a distance, we could hear the sound of music and people's voices. We reached the end of the treeline that surrounded the large body of water where a large crowd had gathered. Most of them were dancing to a song that was blasting out of a large radio while some of them were swimming in the shallow water or getting drinks from the coolers.

Takeo noticed us and waded through the crowd over to us. "Hey, guys!" He grinned, showing off his canine-like teeth. Masaru barked in greeting. "Glad you could make it. Kai said you weren't coming."

"Speaking of Kai," I said, "where is the prude?"

Takeo studied the crowd for a moment before pointing over to the coolers, where Kai was talking to Nagaki and Hiromi Kayo. Nagaki was my former childhood rival, but we still don't see eye-to-eye on most things. She had jaw-length blonde hair and eye contacts that made her eyes a rich purple. She dressed like a boy but could be girly whenever she felt like it. Nagaki was quite independent, but she can be very social and she hangs out with me and my sisters on the weekends.

Kayo was the complete opposite. She rejected the company of other humans and the only thing that matters to her is life on the battlefield, but there was someone she liked, and she wasn't telling me. She had dark red hair in a ponytail, real purple eyes, and a lithe body. Kayo was the rebel of our class and would skip class to go to the training grounds to watch the older ninja train. She and Kai were similar in their personalities: Moody, vain, and anti-social. We were frenemies, I guess you could say, but we got along well when we tried.

I started heading over to them, but Kai saw me and quickly excused himself. He disappeared among the crowd before I could reach him.

"What a weirdo." I growled under my breath. Kayo crossed her arms over her chest and asked, "What are you doing here, Rika? I thought you were staying home with Daddy."

"Maybe she just wanted to hang out," Nagaki said, glancing over at me. "This is a pretty sweet party, after all."

That I had to agree on. I looked over at the dancing crowd and realized they were dancing to the song "Gangnam Style", and had formed a large circle around... Takeo and Mika?! **(Takeo's such a troll XD)**

I stared in horror as the dog placed his hands on my sister's waist and they both began moving to the music. Oh Kami. I could handle Mom and Dad dancing this is the kitchen, but this was far too much!

I started to go through the crowd to rescue my sister, but suddenly a hand shot out and grabbed my shirtsleeve, dragging me away. I looked up alarmed at my captor, but realized it was only Takehiko.

"Takehiko, I can drag myself." I spat defiantly, squirming to break free of his hold, but he didn't let go until we reached the water. We stared at the moonlight reflecting on the water. If we weren't friends, this would be totally romantic. If only.

I risked a glance at my friend and saw he was looking at me too. He quickly returned his gaze back to the lake and stammered - which was completely out of character for him -, "U-Um, we'd better g-get back. Our parents might notice we're gone."

"Oh, right." I nearly gagged over the awkwardness that had settled over us. "I'll go get Mika. You get Haruka." I scampered away, trying to make my blush go away as I searched for my sister.

What an awkward night.

* * *

**Dark Fire: **Not bad. Oh, I want to apologize to the awesomeinhumanform and korraisGREAT since they put up their OCs in chapter _three_. I didn't forget about them nor did they get sent in late! I just couldn't figure out where to put them! Sorry bros!  
**Kairu:** Aren't you forgetting someone, Dark Fire?  
**Dark Fire: **Eh? Oh right! HUGE shout out to my friend RE-Fan 2750 for giving me so much help with this story! You've been a great help! :)  
**Rika: **Favorite, follow, review! Laters, gee!


	7. Not So Sweet Dreams

**Dark Fire: **Welcome back! My name's PewDiePie!  
**Sasuke: **No it isn't, you're a lair.  
**Dark Fire: **Shhhhhhh, my little vain one. It is now time for the next chapter!  
**Sasuke: **Yipee. You didn't give Sachiko a lot of page time.  
**Dark Fire: **I was busy making my readers happy T3T  
**Sasuke: **Whatever, just get on with it.  
**Dark Fire: **Okay, okay, ON WITH THE SHOW!

* * *

It's been weeks since the lake party. Me and my team have been working our butts off to the point that we're too tired to do anything but sleep on the weekends. The reason for that being that Lee bugged Neji about getting their two teams to train together until he finally agreed. I was normally paired up with Kai for Taijutsu training and he practically wiped the floor with me. Taijutsu was definitely not my strong suit, which really wasn't all that fair, since Kai's father was a Taijutsu _master_.

Kai, Takeo, and Mika seemed to be thriving under Lee's teachings - however humiliating or rigorous they were - but I soon began to notice something. Mika and Lee shared a special connection. She was apparently the most youthful of his three students. While Lee cared for his other students, Mika had his full attention while they were training. It was insane. He acted like Takeo and Kai didn't exist, which was quite a feat, considering how much the two fought.

Takeo and Kai were like oil and water. Mika told me on the first day of training, Takeo had declared himself the leader of Team Ten and nearly blew a gasket when Kai commented he was too foolish to lead the team. Something told me that whenever Mika or Lee wasn't looking, they wrestled until one of them was down.

That reminds me, I still haven't gotten back at that baka for dancing with my sister. That's going to have to change soon.

* * *

"Mika, are you even listening to me?" I asked my sister as our ramen bowls were placed in front of us. I had been ranting about what a prick Kai was during training that day and how many bruises and cuts I had received when I realized Mika was staring into the middle distance, her eyes focused on something unseen. I heard her neck snap as she turned her head too quickly to look at me and she rubbed it as she murmured, "W-What?"

I scowled at my ramen. "What is it with you these days? Everything goes in one ear and out the other."

A blush heated her cheeks and she said, "I'm sorry, Rika, but I... It's just..." She seemed to want to tell me something, but she looked back down at her ramen and murmured, "Never mind, it's nothing to you need to worry about."

I glanced at Sachiko and saw she looked just as surprised as me. Mika wasn't one to keep secrets or shy away from a conversation. Must be serious if she can't even talk about it. One of Mika's arm wraps had become loose, so I could see her thin arm was crisscrossed with cuts from training. I would have to tell mom about that later.

Sachiko broke the silence that had fallen over us. "I heard the festival is tomorrow night. There's, um, going to be fireworks at the end."

Mika perked right up at that. She was a bit of a pyro and loved all things that went boom. If there were was a match or a lighter somewhere in the house, she'd find it and try to burn the house down. She could stare at a burning flame for hours without getting bored.

The strawberry-blond was most likely going to go on and on about how awesome fireworks were when something caught her eye and her mouth formed a small 'o'. I followed her gaze and was surprised to see Kai watching us. He held my gaze like we did on the last day of the Academy, and it might've just been a trick of the light, but I swore he smiled at me.

* * *

Later on that night, I was snuggled up in my cozy quilt, nice and warm. The quilt was so fluffy and soft the end result was me curled up in a ball sound asleep.

I was dreaming sweet dreams, about cats and cute shoes and bunnies and...lotus flowers? They were definitely lotus flowers. I felt happy and content. But suddenly, my dream turned dark; the summer sky turning dark grey, the flowers suddenly withering and dying, the bunnies disappearing into holes in the ground, the fluffy cats fleeing with the shoes in tow (they grabbed them by their mouths because cats are awesome!). I suddenly heard deep, heartbroken sobbing and I turned to see Might Kai sitting on the ground, his back to me.

I stared at him for a few moments and noticed something a little strange. Sprouting out of his dark hair were two little black horns. I looked down and saw a lizard-like tail coming from the small of his back.

He stopped crying abruptly and turned to face me. His face was red and blotchy from crying and he had two long dark blue markings over his narrow silver eyes. His face became twisted with anger. _"...Why?"_ He asked me. _"Why did you make me go through so much pain?! S-She shouldn't have died!"_ His silver eyes turned black as he began viciously attacking me with a blue and gold dagger. All I saw was his furious face as he violently sliced my flesh with the dagger, my blood splattering the grass.

I shot up in bed, panting heavily with my forehead beaded with a cold sweat. I bunched up my blanket and practically strangled it. I glanced at my clock and saw that it was three o'clock. _Dammit, now I'm never going to go back to sleep! _

I kicked away my blankets and stumbled to my closet, pulling the door open. Inside was my secret stash of ramen. I sat down and opened a cup of instant ramen, placing it in the mini microwave I had sneaked in my room a couple of weeks ago. During the three minutes it took to heat up the noodles, I busied myself by trying to figure out what the hell had caused me to have such a weird dream.

Bad ramen? No. Too much training? Nu-uh. Punishment from Kami for plotting to kill Takeo? ...Probably.

Suddenly, my door slowly creaked open and I let out a girly yelp of fear, closing myself in the closet and burying myself under my blanket.

"...Rika? Are you awake?" I heard Mika's voice ask. I untangled myself from my blanket and peeked my head out the closet. My sister was standing in my doorway, dressed in a dark brown "save the red squirrel" shirt and blue and white pajama pants.

"Mika, why are you up?" I asked, opening the closet door to reveal myself. A blush colored her cheeks and she said, "I thought I smelled ramen."

I chuckled. "Yeah, that was probably me." I waved my hand to my ramen and Mika's stomach rumbled. We both laughed and I let her sit down beside me, handing her the ramen cup when it was ready. She ate hungrily, spilling hot water on my carpet but most of it ended up on her shirt.

"Whoa, slow down, killer." I told her, wiping her face with the sleeve of my sweater. "You're going to make yourself sick if you eat like that."

Mika smiled apologetically and continued eating at a human pace. I made myself another cup and ate with her. Though I didn't really want anyone to find out about my ramen stash, I didn't really mind if it was Mika.

* * *

A few hours later, Mika and I were at the training grounds with our teams, paired off in pairs of two, as usual. Kai and I were paired together to practice the Leaf Gale. It was a simple rear spinning low kick, but if you're strong enough, you can send an adult flying like nothing. I got to practice it on Kai first, but he didn't budge. I looked over at Mika, who had been paired with Kairu, and she performed the kick perfectly and sent my teammate towards the tree line. Lee-sensei complimented her and she beamed with pride.

I turned my attention back to Kai and saw he was smiling at me, his eyes softened with pity. "Try it again, Rika," He said, "but this time, concentrate a little bit of your chakara in your leg. It's one of the easiest places to concentrate your chakara."

_Why are you helping me?_ I felt a little puzzled and my dream came creeping back into my mind. _Is he going to act all nice to me before he kills me?_ I ignored the little warning voice and did as he told me. My left leg glowed a soft orange hue and I backed away a couple of feet before running towards him, focusing on his lower half. I swung my leg and knocked his legs from underneath him. Kai landed with a small 'oof' and I placed my foot on his chest, restricting him from getting up.

Neji walked over to us with Lee in tow and said to me, "Well done, Rika." I removed my foot from Kai's chest and helped him get up. He smiled at me before going off to Mika and Takeo, who were talking about other Taijutsu techniques that Lee had taught them.

While we were getting ready for another lesson in Taijutsu, I quietly wondered if Kai was really capable of hurting anyone.

* * *

**Dark Fire: **What is this? *head desk* I'm so sorry if it sucks, guys! I had a serious case of writers block!  
**Sasuke: **Yeah, yeah, we know.  
**Dark Fire: **Oh, by the way, I'm still accepting OCs, so don't be shy~!  
**Kai: **Why did Rika have a dream about me? Wait, she doesn't _like_ me, does she?!  
**Rika: **Oh please, I would never like you, you prick!  
**Dark Fire: **Enough! Lee, would you please close this chapter?  
**Lee: **Okay, Dark-chan! Favorite, follow, review and submit your OC if you want them to be featured in this story!


	8. Author's Note 1

**Dark Fire:** Yo, s'up guys? I was just rereading chapter six, and I realized I hated how I made Haruka appear. It was kind of unoriginal that a son of Hinata would be shy and stutter around the person he liked, so I will now show you the new Haruka!

* * *

**Name:** Sabaku no Haruka

**Hair Color:** Dark red with streaks of black

**Eye Color:** Pale lavander (with dark circles around his eyes)

**Description:** Quiet and reserved, Haruka is similar to his mother in her childhood days, but will become incredibly violent if someone threatens those he cares about. He can be cold from time to time, but never has any ill intentions. Haruka is the youngest of the Kazekage's five children and is a little overprotective of his older twin, Karura. Haruka is the only one of his siblings that inherited their father's control of the sand, but he doesn't carry a sand gourd like his father because he can take the dust particles from the air and turn them into sand. His hobbies are reading, writing, training, and helping his father with his paperwork. Haruka deeply loves his family but finds his older siblings to be a pain at times.

* * *

**Dark Fire: **Yes, I like this one better. You're more like your daddy now, Haruka!  
**Haruka: **...Minus the killing and insanity, right?  
**Dark Fire: **Only when you're angry. Don't anger the Haruka. You won't like him when he's angry.  
**Sasuke: **I hate the hulk.  
**Dark Fire: **The Incredible Hulk is awesome! Anyways, the next chapter will be out very soon. Stay awesome, bros!


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